LONDON — The Advanced Technology Investment Co. (ATIC) of Abu Dhabi, the government investment vehicle behind GlobalFoundries Inc., has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) in which the two parties undertake to explore potential areas of collaboration in the semiconductor industry.

The MoU was signed in Abu Dhabi, by Ibrahim Ajami, CEO of ATIC and by Jun-Cheol Yang, CEO of KSIA. KSIA is the advisory association behind the South Korean semiconductor industry that represents the interests of a variety of semiconductor companies including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

The agreement is broad-ranging covering development collaboration, commercial, public-private and educational cooperation. The possibility of ATIC investing in Hynix, a memory chip vendor from which a number of banks are seeking to disengage, was not discussed in a statement issued by ATIC, but nor was it excluded.

The likely value of collaborations or the time-scale that the two organizations are looking at, was not discussed.

The two bodies said the agreement will allow ATIC and KSIA to explore cooperative partnerships with leading companies in each other's markets, as well as global companies located in the United Arab Emirates and Korea. They also said they would explore technology education opportunities.

Under the MoU, ATIC and KSIA will evaluate semiconductor-related R&D programs; technology trends and industrial policy seminars; collaboration between UAE and Korean companies to further competitiveness and investment; and education-related exchanges between students and faculties in various UAE and Korean universities and associations.

"South Korea's semiconductor industry is tremendously innovative and is an amazing source of talent and insight," said Ibrahim Ajami, in a statement. "We look forward to exploring shared development and commercial opportunities as we advance ATIC's goal of becoming an industry leader and strengthening Abu Dhabi's advanced technology sector."

"As we begin to see recovery in this industry, we are very excited to be collaborating with this major industry partner, with its long-term perspective and global viewpoint," said Yang, in the same statement.

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